Monaural Headphone Recommendations
- Thread starter JASII
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A lot of it's subjective: what sounds "good" to one person might sound terrible to someone else. I wonder if places still exist where a customer can try them on while hooked to a stereo, like in the "good old days"? Failing that, the best bet might be sticking with name brands...
k6cpo
Member
The most trusted source for amateur radio headphones, headsets and microphones is Heil Sound.
Heil Amateur Radio - Ham Radio Receivers - Mics - Headsets - Accessories
Heil Amateur Radio - Ham Radio Receivers - Mics - Headsets - Accessories
prcguy
Member
Most trusted by a few hams but not necessarily by people who actually know audio. You can also use stereo headphones with an adapter cable to combine two headphone channels into one. That will give you more options and you might already have some stereo phones that are perfect and just need a mono adapter.
Heil will be a good choice, as they focus on speech freqs, not music clarity.
k6cpo
Member
I have four of their products and I'm very pleased with them. Possibly the worst headphones I have are a set of Beats Pro phones. The kids love them and I will say they have great audio, but the Pro model is heavy, the cushions are hard and the ear opening not large enough. For something that costs almost $400 retail, they are horribly uncomfortable. I'm glad I didn't pay for them.
prcguy
Member
I've taken my Heil PR-40 into a recording studio to see how it plays against other vocal mics and after some testing I was told to remove it from the premises. I then asked if it would even be a consideration for a bass drum mic and everyone said no. The PR-40 is Heil's flagship mic.
I have some other products from Heil that are ok for amateur use like the old HC-4 and HC-5 replacement mic cartridges and the lightweight headphones with boom mic and HC-5 but most other items are nothing special.
I have some other products from Heil that are ok for amateur use like the old HC-4 and HC-5 replacement mic cartridges and the lightweight headphones with boom mic and HC-5 but most other items are nothing special.
The OP is asking about headphones, so let's try to stay on that topic.
In my experience, the headphone portion of Heil headsets are stereo. The plugs are TRS (aka stereo) and the speakers are wired separately.
The last monaural headphones I purchased were from Radio Shack and were specifically marketed towards scanner and shortwave listeners.
Unfortunately, there isn't much market for monaural headphones these days. There may be some specialized, and expensive, products on the market which meet the OP's quest. Or, just find a pair of stereo headphones that you like and wire the two sides in parallel (unless that would make the impedance too low for your radio).
In my experience, the headphone portion of Heil headsets are stereo. The plugs are TRS (aka stereo) and the speakers are wired separately.
The last monaural headphones I purchased were from Radio Shack and were specifically marketed towards scanner and shortwave listeners.
Unfortunately, there isn't much market for monaural headphones these days. There may be some specialized, and expensive, products on the market which meet the OP's quest. Or, just find a pair of stereo headphones that you like and wire the two sides in parallel (unless that would make the impedance too low for your radio).
Many modern radios (ham and scanner) have "stereo" headphone jacks anyway. Stereo headphones are so common that I think many manufacturers did away with mono. If you don't like adapters just cut off the stereo plug and attach a mono plug.
majoco
Stirrer
I have had for many years a nice pair of Akai ASE-7 headphones - nice soft earpieces sit on the ears rather than over so you don't get that claustrophobic feeling - cut off the stereo plug and fitted a standard 1/4" mono - most of my radios have the corresponding jack socket. Sounds very good - no resonances or peaks, the Mk1 ear is the best filter for CW!
spanky15805
Newbie
- Joined
- Sep 18, 2004
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kinduv' like my David Clark's.
MFJ-392B
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Anything Sennheiser is going to be good...I own a couple...but again, that's recording studio stuff and generally has the price to match. My go-to headset for amateur radio use is the Yamaha CM500. Amazingly good audio from the mic and headphones, and they are extremely comfortable. I wear those things for hours and they don't hurt a bit. Even better is that they are $59.99. I bought mine on sale for less than that.
commscanaus
Member
The Kenwood HS-5 is the go-to headset in my shack.
Work very well for HF weak signal SSB and are not fatiguing to wear for long periods.
I keep a 1/4" to 1/8" adapter handy since some newer radios use 1/8" (Icom IC-7300 & IC-R8600 for example)
Also have an old school pair of Realistic Nova 40 from Radioshack which get used on occasion too.
Added a mono 1/4" plug to them some years ago.
These don't leak any sound since they are closed back design, so can be used when other people don't want to hear any QRM!
Commscanaus.
Work very well for HF weak signal SSB and are not fatiguing to wear for long periods.
I keep a 1/4" to 1/8" adapter handy since some newer radios use 1/8" (Icom IC-7300 & IC-R8600 for example)
Also have an old school pair of Realistic Nova 40 from Radioshack which get used on occasion too.
Added a mono 1/4" plug to them some years ago.
These don't leak any sound since they are closed back design, so can be used when other people don't want to hear any QRM!
Commscanaus.
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